As expected the Phillies have activated Ryan Howard from the disabled list and the former MVP will make his season debut tonight against the Braves, batting cleanup.

Hector Luna was optioned to Triple-A to make room on the roster for Howard, who went 10-for-20 (.500) with a homer and two doubles in seven minor-league games while rehabbing his torn Achilles’ tendon.

Howard’s return comes just seven games after Chase Utley made his season debut, so the Phillies’ lineup is suddenly pretty healthy and actually managed to be decent with the sixth-most runs in the league even without Utley and Howard for the first three months.

Philadelphia’s fill-in first basemen hit .258 with 12 homers and a .733 OPS in Howard’s absence to rank 18th among MLB teams. Last season Howard hit .253 with 33 homers and an .835 OPS in 152 games, driving in 100-plus runs for the sixth straight season but posting the worst OPS of his career and failing to top a .500 slugging percentage for the first time at age 31.